


The Only One Who Could Reach Me

by gabby227



Series: Son of a Preacher Man [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes & Steve Rogers Friendship, Deaf Clint Barton, Explicit Language, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Getting Together, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Joseph Rogers is a Good Dad, Light Angst, M/M, Maria Stark Lives, Maria Stark's Good Parenting, Minor Bucky Barnes/Natasha Romanov, Pansexual Tony Stark, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Preacher Joseph Rogers, Steve is a Preacher's Kid, bad boy steve rogers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2019-07-01
Packaged: 2020-06-02 06:33:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19435885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gabby227/pseuds/gabby227
Summary: Even though Joe Rogers is a preacher, and Howard Stark is anything but, why is it that Steve is accepted and loved for who he is, and Tony isn't?(Or, rather, for two people who come from two totally different worlds, Tony and Steve meet and still fall in love anyway.)





	The Only One Who Could Reach Me

**Author's Note:**

> My first Stony fic. I wanted to write it for the Stony Midyear Exchange, but after finishing it, I realized it was almost 2K too long. I decided to post it anyway.
> 
> This fic is the result of a prompt left on the stuckony Discord server. I just hope I did the idea justice.
> 
> Many thanks to [Fee](http://archiveofourown.org/users/feetheimpossiblegirl) for beta-ing this piece and helping me out with it. And many thanks to [LadyUkkey](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyukkey) for the prompt and letting me brainstorm and throw ideas at her.

People had often said that if there was anybody you could trust, it was the family of a preacher.

The thought always made Steve laugh.

Joe Rogers was a very popular Methodist minister. Everybody knew who he was. Not only was he a minister that everybody had heard of, he was an all-around _good man_. He treated his wife and son like the treasures they were. He never raised his voice to either of them, he never spoke harshly to them, and, most importantly, he never raised a hand to them.

Even when Steve felt like he deserved it.

Everybody expected a preacher's kid to be more reserved, but when it came to Steve, a lot of people were just blown away.

Steve, the kid who wore leather jackets and blue jeans, who always wore t-shirts that were at least two sizes too small and made his muscles bulge out in the most enticing way, and his thick thighs were prominent in the jeans he chose to wear. The kid who often cut class and hung out around the back where no teachers ever thought to come looking so he could sneak a smoke.

Those were things his parents didn't know about.

Everybody in school knew how he was, but nobody wanted to tell his parents. Joe and Sarah Rogers were devout in their religion, but nobody wanted to break it to them that their son was a regular juvenile delinquent.

Even though, technically, he wasn't.

Steve was a bad boy. And even though he acted a certain way, he still did the right thing. Stood up to bullies. Punched people who were picking on kids smaller than them, beat up people who wouldn't take no for an answer. One time, his best friend, Bucky, had to practically pull him off a fella who was sexually harassing a young girl and almost attacked her right on the street.

Steve had been pissed that Bucky had stopped him, but, as Bucky said, someone needed to check on the girl and make sure she was okay. She was violently shaking, skin pale and cheeks flushed; she looked barely two minutes from passing out.

That got Steve's attention.

So even though Steve was a bad boy and people knew not to mess with him, they also knew that he would stand up for people who needed it. For people who couldn't handle things themselves.

But then everything started to change.

There was a new kid coming to town. Now, Steve had been born and raised in Brooklyn, along with practically everyone he knew. Steve and Bucky had known each other since they were three years old, their mothers meeting in the park. Sarah and Winnie became really good friends, which led to Steve and Bucky becoming friends as well.

The Rogers and Barneses had lived in the same apartment complex for a long time. And George Barnes had a drinking habit that everybody knew about, so it wasn't odd for Bucky to come over and hide out at the Rogers' apartment, because, as he'd often told Steve and his parents, he just didn't want to be around when his old man was hitting the bottle.

George pretty much left Bucky's mom and his three sisters alone. It was just him.

It was because of this that Bucky and Steve were pretty much brothers. If you saw Bucky, then Steve was either right next to him or a couple of steps behind. They were a team.

"Who the fuck decided that seven in the morning is a good time to start school?" Bucky groaned that morning. He was leaning up against the locker right next to Steve's, hands in the pockets of the black leather jacket he was wearing. Bucky looked the same as he did many mornings; dark blue jeans, his combat boots, and a black leather jacket over a grey tank. He had perfected the _just rolled out of bed_ look, along with the scruff that lined his cheeks and chin.

As Steve reached into his locker to pull out his geometry textbook, he gave his best friend a tired glance.

Bucky could easily sleep until one or two in the afternoon if he didn't have to get up. Steve was an early riser -- he always had been, he was up and on his morning jog by _at least_ five-thirty. However, if Bucky was given the option, he'd sleep all day.

"Mornings are a great thing, Buck," Steve answered him. After debating it in his head for a few seconds, he decided to grab his sketchbook as well.

After slamming his locker shut and going off to geometry, which was their first period of the day, that's when their friends Natasha and Clint sidled up next to them.

Natasha, with her red hair behind her in an intricate French braid, took one look at Steve and then said, "You hear about the new kid? He's coming today."

Everybody had heard about the new kid coming to school. They didn't get new kids very often, but this wasn't just _some_ new kid. This was Tony fucking Stark.

Tony Stark was the son of the technical genius, the founder and CEO of Stark Industries, Howard Stark. Even though Tony was only eighteen years old, some people said he was smarter than his father, but they also said that he didn't want anything to do with weapons manufacturing. Stark Industries was famous because of the fact that they had weapons contracts, but Tony wanted no part of that.

"He's not just _any_ new kid, Tasha," Bucky said from Steve's left. "It's Tony fucking Stark."

"And?" she asked. Natasha was from Russia, her real name being _Natalia_ \-- but call her that and she'll cut you -- and she knew what it was like to transfer to a new school, especially since she had to go and live with her grandmother in New York after her father -- the only parent she'd ever known -- had died. She had a lot of sympathy for transfer students, because she not only had to go to a new _school_ ; Natasha had to go _across the ocean_.

"You're right, Tasha," Steve agreed. "As long as he's not a bully, things'll be fine."

***

He really hadn't wanted to move. Tony liked things in Malibu; he liked the town, he liked his friends, and he loved the weather. Why the hell would he want to move all the way to Brooklyn?

Being the son of Howard Stark, Tony was used to his father's celebrity. He was used to the way people acted around not only Howard, but his family. If you had Stark in your name, people bent over backwards to make you happy.

But Maria had begged her son to just go along with what Howard had wanted. To just do what his dad asked, this once, and skip the arguing.

It was no secret that Tony hated his old man. He hated the way Howard acted, hated the way that he didn't give Maria the respect she deserved. His mom was _everything_ to Tony, and if someone mistreated her, they were automatically on Tony's bad list.

So, to make his mom happy, he willingly moved to Brooklyn and didn't say _much_ about it. Maria had asked for no arguments, and Tony had been trying really hard, but he couldn't just let _everything_ go.

Tony begged to drive himself. The last thing he wanted was to be accompanied to school, to look like the spoiled rich boy that everybody thought he was anyway. He was really happy when his parents conceded.

Brooklyn High wasn't a huge school, not like the one he'd gone to in Malibu, and it was pretty nice on the outside. Tony wondered how he was going to fit in.

They were starting him in geometry; although he was a genius, they wanted to start him in a certain math and then see where he was educationally before moving him to where he needed to go.

Even though Howard, Maria, Tony, _and_ Jarvis had been adamant Tony could easily be in a calculus class, if not a higher math than that.

Tony was so used to being shunned, especially at the old high school he used to go to. He was the smart kid, the kid who had a father who was not only a celebrity, but an asshole and a well-known womanizer. Howard had stepped out on his wife for _many_ years -- and almost everybody knew about it.

He knew there hadn't been a woman in Malibu that Howard hadn't had some kind of tryst with.

When he walked into his class that morning, aided by the guy the school had set him up with -- a nice kid named James Rhodes -- _call me Rhodey_ , he'd said when Tony asked for his name -- who everybody seemed to like -- he sat down and just wanted to be ignored. He didn't want anybody to bring attention to him.

That's when he noticed _him_. There was a kid standing in the back of the room, about three people around him, and they seemed to be animatedly chatting. He was tall, had a lot of bulk on him, with short blond hair and crystal blue eyes. He had kind of an All-American kind of charm to him, and it made Tony automatically think of fireworks and apple pie.

"Hey, Tony, you okay?" James -- no, _Rhodey_ \-- was asking him, and Tony just nodded.

"Get lost in my own head sometimes," he muttered. He took a seat and, not long afterwards, class started.

Tony was so thankful that the teacher didn't do that thing a lot of other teachers did, the whole _get to know your new peer_ thing, and Tony could've kissed her for it. He knew who he was, he knew that he was smarter than a good portion of the population, but he didn't want to bring anybody's attention to it.

Leather Jacket kid, the kid who Tony had been watching before class started, he seemed to be pretty damn smart. While Tony hadn't been very happy about being put in a class where he could do the homework with his eyes closed, he decided that he'd go through with the class, because, not only was it a good review for him -- not that he _needed_ it -- but he also wanted to watch the beautiful boy.

Sooner than Tony realized it, it was lunchtime. Tony didn't really eat all that much, and he definitely never really ate at school, but before he could get out of it, Rhodey had grabbed Tony's arm and said, "C'mon, man, come sit with me and my friends."

He led him to a table, and Tony stopped in his tracks when he saw that Rhodey was leading him over to where the beautiful boy, Leather Jacket kid from geometry class, was sitting, surrounded by a few kids. Two other boys and a girl.

When Steve looked up from his lunch, he noticed Rhodey was standing there with the same kid from geometry class -- that _had_ to be Tony Stark. Steve himself hadn't ever seen Tony Stark before, but the whole school was aware of Tony's arrival and he was the only new kid that was coming this week, so it had to be him. But what surprised Steve the most was that Tony Stark was beautiful.

He'd known Tony was fucking brilliant -- IQ the highest on the charts in _decades_ \-- but nobody had ever told Steve how beautiful he really was. Maybe because it was because nobody really noticed it.

"Who's your friend, Rhodey?" Steve called out, and that's when the boy looked up at him. 

"Hey, Stevie, this is Tony. Tony, meet Steve. Then there's Bucky, Natasha, and Clint next to him."

"Tony Stark, right?" Clint piped up. Tony watched him closely, and Steve couldn't pinpoint the look on Tony's face, but he _could_ tell that Tony was wishing he was anywhere but here. Tony was doing everything he could to make himself smaller, to make it so people wouldn't notice he was here.

It was the same thing Bucky did whenever his dad had been drinking.

The thought hit Steve like a brick wall. Was Tony abused? Did his dad hit him? Did he do worse than that?

Unfortunately, Steve knew a lot about those kinds of things because his dad would often talk to those less fortunate. Women and children that were in abuse shelters. Kids that were in residential foster homes and even youth that were in LGBT shelters.

People were always shocked when they found out that Pastor Joe Rogers had an open and out bisexual son; one that he actually loved and protected and _wanted_. Someone that Joe wasn't _ashamed of_ and treated like he'd treat anyone else.

Tony just nodded. Steve had a bit of anger at the way that Tony was so timid, but it wasn't at the boy himself. He just realized when somebody's gone through something so traumatic they just didn't want to be vulnerable to anybody else. Bucky could be like that on occasion.

Not that Steve ever drew attention to it.

"C'mon, Tony, come and sit down next to me," Bucky said, moving over so there was a space between himself and Steve. After shooting him a look, Steve understood why Bucky did that -- he could see the vulnerability in Tony as well as Steve could.

Tony sat down where Bucky had made the space, and then Tony looked around the table nervously.

"How're you liking Brooklyn?" Natasha asked Tony after a minute had gone by. She opened a container that she brought from home and pulled out a strawberry, biting into it. "It's real different than what you're used to, right?"

Again, silently, Tony nodded.

"It's okay, doll," Steve said soothingly. "We're all friends here."

"It's different," Tony said, finding his voice, even though it was soft, hesitant. "Malibu is always sunny and warm. It's fucking _freezing_ here."

Bucky laughed, and Steve smiled. "It's November, doll," he said. "This kind of weather is to be expected. Just be happy it isn't snowing yet."

And something about Steve, something about how easy-going and how friendly the boy was, he made Tony feel like the weight had just been lifted off of his shoulders.

And maybe this school would be different than the one he'd gone to in Malibu. Maybe he could actually finally fit in, and even have friends.

***

"How's school going, Antonio?" Maria questioned as she sat down on her son's bed. He was at his desk, blueprints laid out in front of him, and his pencil was moving quite quickly.

Maria usually didn't have any idea what her son was doing; a lot like her husband, Tony was brilliant and not many people's minds could keep up with his. All she knew was that Tony was creating _something_ , but then again, Tony was _always_ creating something. Tony's mind worked so fast that not a lot of people could keep up with him.

Well, Howard would've, if he ever gave Tony the time of day. Maria found herself often wishing that she could do something to make her son and husband get along better than they did.

"Hmm?" he hummed, erasing something and then re-drawing his line. "Did you say something?"

Maria smiled softly. "Yes, dear. I asked how school was going?"

If there was any way to get her son to open up to her, it'd be to ask him about school. Maria's mind wasn't as advanced as her husband and son's were, but, instead of acting like she was an idiot, Tony would always take time to explain things to her.

"Great!" he exclaimed. He looked back to catch his mother's eye. "I met a really nice group of kids. They aren't as smart as me, granted, but they don't look down on me for it."

"First friends you've ever really had, right?" Maria smiled softly. Tony nodded.

"Tell me about them," Maria suggested, and Tony started to do just that.

He talked about the group as a whole. How friendly and outgoing they were. How nice they were and even how Tony had taken to tutoring one of them -- Clint -- in geometry, and, in return, Clint was teaching Tony ASL.

When asked how Clint could go to school and be deaf at the same time, Tony had explained to his mom that Clint could hear with hearing aids and he also could read lips like a pro.

He talked about the ringleader, Steve Rogers, and his right-hand man, Bucky Barnes. Well, _ringleader_ was the word Tony had used, but he'd also used it as a more friendly term than anything. He talked about how _nice_ Steve was -- how he was kind but kind of rough on the exterior, but one of the best guys Tony had ever known. He stood up for people who couldn't stand up for themselves, and he was just one of the best guys that Tony ever met.

Maria was _really_ surprised when she found out that Steve was the son of a preacher.

"He's out to his parents, too," Tony continued to rattle on. "His dad, the pastor, he knows how he is but he loves him anyway. Isn't that so terrific? The fact that Steve can be bi and his dad be a man of the cloth, but he loves and accepts him for who he is?"

"That really is, Antonio," his mother smiled. She had always known that Tony wasn't straight -- she wasn't sure what label to put on it, because Tony never really said anything to his parents about it -- and she knew that Howard would have a hard time accepting their son if he ever found out.

"You know, Antonio, if there's ever anything you want to talk about, you can come to me, right?" she asked gently. Dropping his pencil onto the desk, Tony turned around to catch his mother's eyes.

"What do you mean?" he asked her, trying to act nonchalant.

"I mean just what I said. If you ever need to talk, to get something off your chest, just come to me, okay? I promise I won't judge you."

"Why would you ask me that?" he asked, and Maria could tell by the look on her son's face that Tony was starting to panic.

"Antonio," Maria said soothingly as she stood up and went over to where her son was seated, "there's no need to panic. It's something I noticed -- but your dad has no idea."

Tony couldn't help the puzzled look on his face.

A few silent moments passed, and then, taking a deep breath, he asked softly, "How'd you know?"

"I'm not as stupid as you and your father think I am," Maria joked, but then saw the serious look on her son's face.

"Actually, Antonio, I've known for a while. I know you're not ready to tell me, and that's fine, but I wanted you to know that anytime you're ready to tell me _anything_ , I'm here to listen. Alright?"

Tony nodded.

"I'm not going to bring it up to your father, so don't worry about that," she added softly. "Just whatever you want to tell me, feel free. I'll always be here for you, Antonio. I love you."

"I love you, too, Mom."

***

As the weeks went by, Steve and his friends got to really know Tony, and they really started to like him. Tony was a totally different person than he seemed to be when they had first met the guy.

On the first Saturday of December, Steve and Bucky had decided to do some Christmas shopping. It'd been a while since he'd spent time with Bucky, just the two of them, so it was a nice trip for them.

There wasn't a lot of people in Steve's family -- just his parents and himself. His grandparents on either side had already passed, and both Joe and Sarah Rogers were only children. The trip was actually more for Bucky himself.

Bucky came from a huge family, and every year, he challenged himself to get the gifts for his sisters that they'd love the best. Four years running, Bucky had gotten Becca, Lottie, and Nellie the gifts they loved the most, and so now, it was a personal goal for him.

"So what's the deal with you and Tony?" Bucky asked, removing the unlit cigarette from behind his ear and lighting it. He took a drag of the cigarette and then looked at his friend, noting the surprised look on Steve's face, like that was the last thing he'd ask him.

"What's the deal with you and Nat?" was what Steve decided to answer with, even though that technically was another question.

"Look, Stevie," Bucky sighed. "Tasha and I have a thing going on, but you're not gonna deflect. What's going on with you and Tony?"

Steve shook his head, "I'm not sure what you're talking about."

"You guys like each other," Bucky said, stating it as fact. He'd known Steve long enough to know that Steve was going to deny it. He watched Steve's blue eyes carefully before plucking the cigarette from between his lips and said, "Deny it all you want, Stevie, but you two watch each other like hawks, but only when the other's not looking."

Steve shot a quizzical look at his friend.

"Tony watches you when you're not looking; you shoot glances at him when he looks away," Bucky continued, as if he wasn't fazed by the look on Steve's face. "You are _never_ shy about anyone you like -- dame _or_ fella. You weren't afraid to go after Peggy two years ago, and you most definitely weren't shy about flirting with Sam Wilson last year, either."

"He's too good for me," Steve answered, his face flushing beet red. "Besides that, he's not gonna be interested in a _pastor's son_."

"You're different, Stevie. So's your dad. Actually, your entire family. Not many pastors are like your dad, Steve. Your dad is an amazing man and he doesn't judge LGBT people, and he most definitely doesn't try to tell us what we're doing wrong. He loves _everybody_ , unlike a lot of those so-called 'Christian' folks that are around now. So what makes you think Tony's gonna judge you on that?"

"Buck, are you trying to get me to admit that I have a thing for Tony?" Steve finally snapped, pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his own leather jacket. Pulling one from the pack, he put it between his lips before putting the pack back from where he got it. Lighting it, he took a drag and then continued, "Yes, Buck. I got a thing for Tony. But what am I gonna do about it? Nothing. Not a. Damn. Thing."

"Stevie, you deserve better than that, and so does Tony," Bucky said. Nobody really saw the soft and sensitive side of James Barnes very often, but Steve knew why he was doing this. "You know how Tony's dad treats him. He deserves someone who's gonna love him, and I know you already do."

Steve let Bucky's words sink in for the next couple of days. On Wednesday, Tony arrived at school with a black eye, and he seemed like he kind of withdrew into himself. The Tony they'd come to know, he wasn't afraid to say what was on his mind, he wasn't afraid for people to know what he was thinking. But this Tony -- he was completely different.

They had sat down to lunch and Tony had been suspiciously absent. Tony didn't eat all that often, not at school, but he usually sat with the rest of the group and talked to them, but Wednesday afternoon, he was gone from the table. Bucky had mentioned that maybe Tony just wanted some time to himself, so Steve let it go.

But then Thursday passed, and Friday passed, and Tony wasn't there for those days either. Steve knew that Tony had come to school, but for Tony to avoid Steve like he did, something was wrong.

Which was how Steve found himself at Stark Mansion on Saturday afternoon. He'd driven his bike there, and had almost been denied entry, but then a man named Jarvis showed up and told security to let him through.

"Master Tony talks about you all the time," he'd said, walking Steve through the mansion. "He regales Ana and myself with stories about your school life constantly."

"Ana?" Steve questioned.

"My wife," Jarvis nodded. "We're close with both Master Tony and his mother."

"Mr. Jarvis --" Steve started, but Jarvis shook his head.

"Please, Steve, just call me Jarvis," he answered him. Steve nodded at that.

"Jarvis, I'm glad that Tony's got you and your wife and his mom," Steve said. "He deserves all the good things."

Jarvis led Steve up to Tony's room and knocked on the door. When Tony opened the door, he looked Steve up and down, and he could see the embarrassment written all over Tony's face. Well, embarrassment mixed with something that looked a lot like rage.

"What are you doing, Jarvis?" Tony snapped. Then he looked at Steve, "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see you, Tony," Steve replied, and he couldn't help the hurt that laced through his voice. "I haven't seen you the last three days and I've been worried about you. If I didn't know better, I'd think that you were avoiding us."

"Steve, I..." Tony's voice trailed off, but then he shook his head. "Steve, you should just get outta here. I'll come by your place tomorrow."

Steve cocked a brow at his friend, but finally said, "Dad's preaching tomorrow. I'll be home after twelve-thirty."

Tony nodded, and with that, Steve turned around and left the mansion.

***

Steve had an agreement with his parents. When he became a teenager, neither Sarah nor Joe Rogers wanted to force him to go to church with them -- _we want you to make your own decisions, to be your own person_ , Sarah had told him the day he'd turned thirteen -- but Steve knew that they both wanted him to be there, so he went often; if not every week, then at least every other. It made his parents happy, and he also loved the shocked looks from the old society matrons that heard of his bad boy reputation when they saw him sitting in the pew with his mother.

He wasn't sure what Tony was going to say when he showed up at the Rogers' house that afternoon, but at one o'clock on the dot every Sunday afternoon, they had Sunday dinner. It was a tradition and, more often than not, Bucky joined them.

His father had just finished the prayer when the doorbell rang. They all knew that Steve was expecting Tony, so they weren't surprised in the least when Steve leapt up to answer the door. Usually, they didn't answer the door during mealtimes -- they ate on a schedule, so anybody who was close to the Rogers family knew that they'd just have to come back later -- but they all knew that Steve needed to talk to Tony, and he had made it very clear that he and Tony were going to have a very important chat.

"We were just sitting down to lunch," Steve said to Tony when he opened the door. It surprised him at first; he was used to seeing Tony in blue jeans and old band t-shirts, but when he opened the door, Tony was wearing what looked like to be an expensive three-piece suit.

Oh, who was he kidding; knowing the Stark family, it _was_ expensive. Tony had mentioned to Steve before that his father really favored Tom Ford, so that's what they usually wore.

"You're welcome to join us," he continued. "Mom and Dad would really like to talk to you."

Tony looked a little apprehensive at first, but then nodded. The way that Steve knew Tony, he knew that Tony probably hadn't eaten yet today.

He followed Steve to the table, where Sarah, Joe, and Bucky were already sitting. Silently, Tony took a seat beside Bucky.

"Hey there, Tony," Sarah smiled at her son's friend. "How are you doing?"

Tony's black eye was fading a little; it was still dark around the edges, so there wasn't a way anybody could look at it and _not_ tell what it was, but it wasn't exactly prominent anymore. Steve knew that his parents could see the bruise and were trying really hard _not_ to comment on it, even though Steve knew it was going to be incredibly hard for Joe to hold his tongue.

"I'm alright," Tony mumbled. Food was passed around and Tony took a generous helping of everything. Steve watched him for a moment in awe; he'd _never_ seen Tony eat that much, not in the two months they'd known each other.

"Christmas is next week," Joe mentioned, taking a drink of his iced tea. "Do you and your parents have plans?"

Tony shook his head. "No, sir," he answered. "Dad's going to Malibu to do a merger with a company, and his business partner's gonna be there with him. Jarvis and Ana make a really nice dinner, but Mom and I told them not to bother, since it'll be just us."

"Bring her over here," Steve offered without even thinking about it. He hadn't needed to ask his parents about it; they'd opened their home to other people for Christmas dinner many times before. "Jarvis and Ana, too, if they want. Mom always makes too much, anyway."

Sarah nodded, "Yeah, Tony. We'd love to have you guys over here."

"I'll talk to Mom about it," Tony said, watching her closely. "See what she thinks about it."

"Good," Joe nodded. "We'd love to have the two of you."

Tony could easily keep up with any conversation, but Steve noticed how, when Joe brought the conversation around to sports cars, Tony seemed to light up and keep up with any conversation that Joe had brought his way. They were busy debating the best model of the year when Steve got up to help his mom take care of the dishes.

"Things are going to be okay, Stevie," his mom said as she ruffled his hair. She had to stand up on her tiptoes to do it, but Steve inherently loved it, and if he always bent down a little so she could reach a little better, he never mentioned it.

"What do you mean, Mom?" Steve asked her, a puzzled expression on his face.

"The two of you are going to straighten out whatever's going on," Sarah soothed. "It's going to be okay, son. I promise."

About half an hour later, Bucky sat down to watch TV with Sarah -- which, it had been strange the first time he did it, but Bucky felt like Joe and Sarah were second parents to him, and he spent a lot of time doing things with the two of them, so it didn't really seem as weird anymore -- and Steve and Tony went into his bedroom.

"You wanna talk to me about what's going on, Tony?" Steve asked him, watching his friend carefully. Steve plopped down onto his bed, and Tony took a seat next to him.

"My dad found out," Tony mumbled, and Steve watched him closely. He knew that he had to treat this very carefully, or else it could startle Tony and he could run away altogether. When Steve was quiet, Tony continued, "He found out that I'm not straight. He doesn't know that I'm pan, but he knows that I'm most definitely not straight. He also knows that I'm crushing on a guy."

Steve felt his heart jump a little when he heard Tony admit he had a crush on someone. Who was it? Was it someone in their little group? Could it maybe be _him_?

"He found out and threw a punch. I can't act on my feelings anymore, Steve. I wish I could because this guy...he's the most amazing person I've ever met. So kind and generous, and he's one of the best guys I've ever known. But I can't give this guy everything he deserves, so maybe it's better this way."

"Tell me, Tony, who's the guy you're crushing on?" Steve's voice was soft and tentative, but he needed to know what was going through Tony's head. Even if it wasn't Steve, he needed to know what was going through his friend's head.

"Steve," Tony whispered, and that's when Steve noticed -- they were close. So close. Their faces millimeters apart, and it wouldn't take much to lean up and kiss him, to let their lips meet and do the one thing that Steve had been itching to do for weeks. 

Instead of Steve being the one to breach the space, Tony did it. A few seconds passed before Tony reached out and cupped Steve's cheek.

 _He's really kissing me right now_ , was the first thing that went through Steve's head when Tony leaned forward and captured Steve's lips in a chaste kiss.

It didn't take very long for the kiss to evolve, however, and when Tony's tongue slowly slid across Steve's bottom lip, silently asking for access, Steve acquiesced and opened his mouth, letting Tony's tongue tangle with his.

He wasn't sure how much time passed; it felt like fifteen minutes, it felt like an hour. All Steve was aware of was that he'd spent the last two months wondering what it'd be like to kiss Tony, to know what he tasted like and what his hands felt like while they were caressing his skin, but he finally had his answer. And he was loving every single second of it.

When they broke the kiss mere moments later, Tony looked at Steve and said, "Now that my dad knows I'm not straight, nothing is going to stop me from dating whomever I want to. So, Steve, would you want to go out with me? Get dinner?"

"What happened to not asking the guy out?" Steve asked, feeling a little kiss drunk, but managed to string a sentence together.

"Forget what I said. I want to go out with you. I really don't care what he says, Steve. I'd really like to go out with you -- I'm not going to deny these feelings, not now. What do you say?"

Steve smiled softly, "You know what, Tony? I'd fucking love it."

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on tumblr [here](http://gabby227.tumblr.com).
> 
> I also take prompts.


End file.
